Charikar
Charikar is a redirect to this article. For the Indian computer scientist, see Moses S. Charikar.
This article or subsequent section is not sufficiently supported by evidence (e.g., anecdotal evidence). Information without sufficient evidence may be removed in the near future. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and adding good supporting evidence.
Charikar (also: Askandria-e-Qafqaz or Askandria Paro paizad; چاریکار, DMG Čārīkār) is a city in Afghanistan. It is the capital of Parwan Province and is located about 65 km north of Kabul at the crossing of the road to Mazar-e Sharif over the Punjir River at the foot of the Hindu Kush at an altitude of 1600 metres.
Tscharikar has a population of 42,277 according to 2012 projections (2012).
In ancient times, Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria ad Caucasum in the region. Its exact location, however, is disputed; it is assumed to be in the area of Tscharikar or in the region of Bagram. The area later belonged to the Greco-Bactrian Empire, then to the Indo-Greek Kingdom, and then to the Yuezhi Empire.
Under the reign of Meandro I, Buddhism flourished here.
In the fifth century, the Hephtalites invaded from the north and conquered the city. At the beginning of the 8th century, Charikar came under the rule of the Arabs, who subsequently Islamized the area. From the 10th to the end of the 12th century, the city belonged to the Ghaznavid Empire, in 1221 the first Mongol invasion took place, and in 1398 Timur advanced to India via Charikar and Kabul.
Subsequently, however, Indian influences dominated as the Mughal Empire was able to extend its sphere of influence to the Hindu Kush until the Pashtuns established their own kingdom in the mid-18th century. A British garrison stationed in the city was killed in 1841 during the First Anglo-Afghan War. In the 1960s, Afghanistan's largest textile factory was built near the town of Charikar in Golbahar. As a result of the Soviet invasion, fierce fighting broke out around Chharikar for control of the Salang mountain pass north of the town by the Hindu Kush; the Mujahideen had a stronghold in the neighboring Punjir Valley.
The most important products from Tscharikar are, apart from textiles, mainly tropical fruits and pottery, and the town is also known for the production of silverware and cutlery.
In the area of Bagram today is the Bagram Air Base, a military base of the USA.
See also
- List of cities in Afghanistan
